Afghanistan

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on reaching a peace agreement in Afghanistan through direct and indirect talks with Taliban representatives.

Lord Howell of Guildford: An Afghan-led political process is necessary to underpin the military progress being made by the International Security Assistance Force and the Afghan National Security Forces. This year the Afghan Government convened a Peace Jirga to secure the support of the Afghan people for their proposals and inaugurated the High Peace Council to lead the work.
	We support President Karzai's efforts to reconcile with all those willing to meet the conditions he has laid down: renounce Al-Qaeda; give up armed struggle; and respect the Afghan constitutional framework. The UK is working in support of President Karzai's approach.

Agriculture: Theft

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their strategy for reducing farm thefts and the export of stolen farm goods, particularly all-terrain vehicles.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The Government have made clear that police forces should work with their local communities to identify and tackle the crime problems in their area, including the thefts of property from farms, and we are seeking to ensure that they are free to do so and accountable to their communities. The Government are also very supportive of the work of the Plant and Agricultural Intelligence Unit (PANIU), a specialist unit which brings together the police and private sector partners from the construction, agricultural and insurance industries to tackle plant and machinery theft, including all-terrain vehicles.

Alcohol

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will use alcohol-related road accidents and reported alcohol-related violent incidents as outcome measures to assess the progress of the Alcohol Responsibility Deal.

Earl Howe: Possible measures to assess the success of the alcohol part of the responsibility deal are currently under discussion.
	More widely, a consultation on the public health outcomes framework, Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Transparency in Outcomes, was published by the department on 20 December. The consultation proposes to put in place a new strategic outcomes framework for public health at national and local levels, based on the evidence of where the biggest challenges are for health and well-being, and the wider factors that drive it.
	We are seeking views on the overall structure and scope of the framework and the range of outcomes and measures within it, including views on those measures that should be incentivised.
	A copy of the consultation document can be obtained from the following web address: www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Liveconsultations/DH_122962.

Anti-Semitism

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to university authorities concerning invitations to speak to universities or student union or society audiences to speakers with a history of promoting anti-Semitism; and what steps they will take to protect Jewish and other students from anti-Semitic, Islamophobic or other racist behaviour on campus.

Lord Henley: I will write to the noble Lord and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Armed Forces: Education

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children of members of the armed forces receiving financial assistance through the continuity of education allowance scheme were pupils at (a) Eton, (b) Winchester, (c) Westminster, (d) Charterhouse, (e) St Paul's, (f) Merchant Taylors', (g) Harrow, (h) Rugby, and (i) Shrewsbury.

Lord Astor of Hever: I refer my noble friend to the Answer given by my honourable friend the Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans in the other place on 27 July 2010, (Official Report, col. 1063W) to the honourable Member for Ashfield (Gloria De Piero).

Azerbaijan

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made or will make representations to the government of Azerbaijan in regard to the judgment on 22 April by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Fatullayev v Azerbaijan; and whether they have made representations more widely, concerning alleged violations of journalistic freedom of expression and the investigation of such cases.

Lord Howell of Guildford: UK Government Ministers have raised the case with Azerbaijani Ministers and senior officials on several occasions. My honourable friend the Minister for Europe raised it personally when he visited Baku in October 2010. We continue to monitor the case closely and are in regular contact with Amnesty International and other non-governmental organisations about Mr Fatullayev's situation.
	The UK Government and the EU have raised our concern over the slow progress in improving human rights, including freedom of expression issues in Azerbaijan on many occasions. We and our EU partners have made clear that we are ready to support Azerbaijan in improving human rights standards.

Azerbaijan

Baroness O'Cathain: To ask Her Majesty's Government what support, if any, they intend to offer to the All-Party Parliamentary Armenian Group on their visit to the Azerbaijani province of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has offered no support to the all-party parliamentary group on its planned visit, but stands ready to provide information, as we would for all all-party parliamentary groups, if requested. Information for British citizens wishing to travel abroad is made available through the travel advice pages of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country. The advice currently advises against all travel to Nagorno-Karabakh and the militarily occupied area surrounding it.

Azerbaijan

Baroness O'Cathain: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their current advice for travellers to the Azerbaijani province of Nagorno-Karabakh; and to which authority visa applications should be made.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We currently advise against all travel to Nagorno-Karabakh and the militarily occupied area surrounding it. We therefore do not offer travellers advice on visa applications.

Banking

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will commission the Financial Services Authority or the Bank of England to produce a report on the governance and risk management failures that led to the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS.

Lord Sassoon: On 2 December 2010 the Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced that a supervisory investigation into the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) had confirmed that RBS made a series of bad decisions in the years immediately before the financial crisis, most significantly the acquisition of ABN AMRO and the decision aggressively to expand its investment banking business. The issues investigated by the FSA did not warrant any enforcement action, either against RBS or against individuals.
	The FSA cannot publish the contents of the review, because information gathered for the review remains confidential under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The FSA has proposed producing a publishable report on lessons to be learnt both from the decisions made by the RBS board and executive and from any failings of the supervisory approach in place at that time. In order to publish such a report, the FSA considers that it would need permission from RBS and other individuals to use confidential information provided by them in the course of the supervisory investigations now concluded, as well as those to whom the information relates.
	The FSA is conducting extensive supervisory investigations into other major UK banks that required full or partial taxpayer bailout support. These investigations are ongoing. If they lead to enforcement action being taken, then it would be usual for the FSA to make these outcomes public.

Banking

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether United Kingdom incorporated banks are likely to pay more per annum under the proposed banking levy, once working in accordance with the Government's assessment of the maximum sustainable level, than under the bank payroll tax introduced by the previous government.

Lord Sassoon: No separate estimates of the yield from the bank levy or the bank payroll tax for United Kingdom incorporated bank entities have been made. The bank payroll tax applied to certain entities (banks and holding companies) in banking groups operating in the UK as well as to bank companies in non-banking groups operating in the UK. It therefore applied to both UK incorporated banks (in both UK and foreign banking groups) and UK branches of foreign incorporated banks. The bank levy is a permanent tax on the balance sheets of banks and building society and banking groups, and does not depend upon the location of incorporation of banks within those groups. The bank payroll tax was introduced by the previous Government and was a one-off measure.

Banking

Lord Willoughby de Broke: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the financial exposure of British publicly funded banks to Irish banks and Irish mortgage-backed loans.

Lord Sassoon: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) published its Q2 2010 results on 6 August 2010. This disclosed that total credit risk assets relating to the Republic of Ireland were £48 billion.
	RBS published its Q3 Interim Management Statement on 5 November 2010. Whilst this did not include specific disclosure on exposures to the Republic of Ireland, it did contain disclosures relating to Ulster Bank.
	Ulster Bank trades across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland: at full year 2009 the asset split was circa 16 per cent UK and 84 per cent Republic of Ireland.
	
		
			 Ulster Core Loans and Advances to Customers £bn 
			 Mortgages 21.4 
			 Corporate property 5.3 
			 Other corporate 9.4 
			 Other lending 1.7 
			 Total 37.8 
		
	
	(RBS Q3 Interim Management Statement, page 36)
	
		
			 Ulster Donated Assets in Non-Core Division £bn 
			 Commercial Investment & Development 6.7 
			 Residential Investment & Development 6 
			 Other 2.0 
			 Total 14.7 
		
	
	(RBS Q3 Interim Management Statement, page 55)
	
		
			 Available for sale Debt security Exposures to £mn 
			 The Republic of Ireland  
			 Government 120 
			 Asset-Backed Securities 180 
			 Other 468 
			 Total 768 
		
	
	(RBS Q3 Interim Management Statement, page 105)
	Lloyds Banking Group published its interim results on 5 August 2010. This disclosed its latest exposures in relation to Ireland:
	
		
			  Loans and advances to customers (£m) Impaired loans (£m) Impaired loans as % of closing advances (%) Impairment provisions (£m) Impairment provisions as % of impaired loans (%) 
			 As at 30 June 2010 26, 682 11, 689 43.8 4, 857 41.6 
			 As at 31 December 2009 29, 104 9, 712 33.4 3, 601 37.1 
		
	
	(2010 interim results, page.85 Credit risk-Wealth and International (gross basis)-Ireland)
	On 17 December 2010 Lloyds Banking Group gave an update through the Regulatory News Service (RNS) on its Irish portfolio: http://www.lloydsbankinggroup .com/media/pdfs/investors/2010/2010Dec17_LBG_ Irish_Portfolio_Update.pdf.

Banking: Bonuses

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they intend to give to the Committee of European Banking Supervisors to end the granting of guaranteed bonuses to senior bankers.

Lord Sassoon: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has applied the provisions of the Capital Requirements Directive 3 on a proportionate basis, taking the Committee of European Banking Supervisors' Guidance, and consultation responses, into account.
	The revised FSA Code incorporates a rule that guaranteed bonuses, which must be for one year or less, are only available to new staff, and in exceptional circumstances.

Banking: Bonuses

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proposals made by the Committee of European Bank Supervisors to restrict the payment of banker bonuses; and whether these proposals go beyond those currently required by HM Treasury and the Financial Services Authority.

Lord Sassoon: The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) is required to provide guidance on the implementation of the provisions of the Capital Requirements Directive 3 (CRD 3).
	The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has applied the provisions of CRD 3 on a proportionate basis, taking CEBS guidance and consultation responses into account, as permitted in the CRD 3 legislation.

Banking: Bonuses

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take to ensure that the regulations proposed by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors for limiting the payment of bonuses at banks are restricted to systemically important institutions.

Lord Sassoon: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has applied the provisions of the Capital Requirements Directive 3 on a proportionate basis, taking the Committee of European Banking Supervisors' guidance and consultation responses into account as permitted in the Capital Requirements Directive legislation. The FSA has established a classification of firms to assist in the proportionate application of the Directive requirements.

Banking: Royal Bank of Scotland

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will accept Lord Turner of Ecchinswell's suggestion that there should be a public report on the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Lord Sassoon: On 2 December 2010 the Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced that a supervisory investigation into the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) had confirmed that RBS made a series of bad decisions in the years immediately before the financial crisis, most significantly the acquisition of ABN AMRO and the decision aggressively to expand its investment banking business. The issues investigated by the FSA did not warrant any enforcement action, either against RBS or against individuals.
	The FSA cannot publish the contents of the review, because information gathered for the review remains confidential under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The Government welcome the FSA proposal to produce a publishable report on lessons to be learnt both from the decisions made by the RBS board and executive and from any failings of the supervisory approach in place at that time. In order to publish such a report, the FSA considers that it would need permission from RBS and other individuals to use confidential information provided by them in the course of the supervisory investigations now concluded, as well as those to whom the information relates.

Banking: Royal Bank of Scotland

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (a) Ministers, and (b) officials, in HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and (c) Directors, and (d) officers, of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) were interviewed in the course of the production of the PricewaterhouseCoopers review for the FSA on the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Lord Sassoon: In May 2009, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) launched a supervisory investigation into the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to consider whether regulatory rules had been broken and what, if any, action was appropriate. The review looked specifically at the conduct of senior individuals at the bank, the acquisition of ABN AMRO in 2007 and the 2008 capital raisings. The FSA conducted the review with assistance from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
	As the review considered decisions and activity by the board and executive of RBS during the period in question, no Ministers or officials from HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and no directors or officers from the Financial Services Authority were interviewed as part of the supervisory investigation.

Banking: Royal Bank of Scotland

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any evidence of a failure of directors' fiduciary governance at the Royal Bank of Scotland ahead of the collapse of that bank.

Lord Sassoon: In May 2009, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) launched an investigation into the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to consider whether regulatory rules had been broken and what, if any, action was appropriate. The review looked specifically at the conduct of senior individuals at the bank, the acquisition of ABN AMRO in 2007 and the 2008 capital raisings.
	On 18 May 2010, the FSA closed the enforcement investigation into Johnny Cameron, former executive director of RBS and former chairman of global markets. Following the completion of this investigation, Mr Cameron agreed not to hold any senior management positions or undertake full-time employment in the financial services industry. In return for this undertaking, the FSA said that it would not take disciplinary action against Cameron. The FSA had not made any findings of regulatory breach against Cameron and he had not made any admissions.
	On 2 December 2010 the FSA announced that a supervisory investigation had confirmed that RBS made a series of bad decisions in the years immediately before the financial crisis, most significantly the acquisition of ABN AMRO and the decision to aggressively expand its investment banking business. Had the investigation led to enforcement action then it would have been usual for the FSA to make these outcomes public. However, the FSA announced that the issues covered by the investigation did not warrant any enforcement action, either against RBS or against individuals.

Banks: Lending

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 9 December (WA 72), whether they will require Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland to enter into new lending agreements in Spring 2011; and whether a decision on this is conditional on other matters.

Lord Sassoon: The lending commitments agreed between the Government and Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are in place until March 2011.
	The Government recognise that access to finance is essential if businesses are to invest, grow and make an important contribution to supporting the economic recovery.
	In response to the Green Paper, Financing a Private Sector Recovery, published earlier this year, the Government have set out a comprehensive package of government and industry-led measures to support small businesses access finance. These measures include:
	additional support for the enterprise finance guarantee over the next four years to enable over £2 billion of lending to viable small businesses that lack collateral or track record; andincreased equity finance, through £200 million of additional funding for the enterprise capital funds programme, both of which could unlock further debt finance for small and medium-sized businesses.
	More information about these measures and the Green Paper is available at http://www.bis.gov.uk/businessfinance.
	In addition, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) taskforce has announced industry-led measures, including improving customer relationships through a new lending code and the establishment of new £1.5 billion business growth fund, which will provide capital to growing businesses.
	Further information about the BBA taskforce and its commitments is available at http://www.bba.org.uk/media/article/business-finance-taskforce.

Belize

Baroness Harris of Richmond: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Belize about the recapture of Allan Cal, who was convicted of the murder of Anna Lightfoot, a British Raleigh volunteer.

Lord Howell of Guildford: I was very sorry to learn of Anna's death and would like to extend my sincere condolences to the Lightfoot family.
	Our high commission in Belize maintains contact with both the Ministry of Police and Public Safety and Crimestoppers Belize on their efforts to locate and recapture Allan Cal. The deputy high commissioner in Belize spoke to the head of Crimestoppers Belize on 26 November, and was told that any leads were being followed up. We will continue to press the relevant authorities and organisations to do all they can to find Allan Cal. We will keep the family informed of any developments.

Benefits

Baroness Sherlock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cumulative impact of the move to uprating housing and welfare benefits in line with the consumer prices index over the five years following the introduction of this change in 2013.

Lord Sassoon: The June 2010 Budget announced that the Government will use the CPI for the price indexation of benefits and tax credits from April 2011. This means that benefits will continue to be protected from price inflation each year. The June 2010 Budget also announced that the Government will uprate local housing allowance rates in line with CPI inflation from 2013-14.
	The fiscal impact of these measures is set out in Table 2.1 in the Budget Red Book. The impact of tax and welfare changes on households is set out in Chapter A of the Red Book. It is essential that government policy is informed by analysis that is known to be robust, and the Treasury has followed a well established methodology, similar to that used by other organisations to undertake its distributional analysis. On the basis of this approach, the Treasury was able to model around two-thirds of benefit and tax-credit changes and the majority of direct and indirect tax changes in the Budget analysis, including CPI indexation of benefits and tax credits. The data sources document published alongside the Budget sets out the full list of measures that this includes. Separately, the Department for Work and Pensions will publish an impact assessment for the CPI indexation of local housing allowance rates when relevant legislation is brought forward.

Benefits

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the time taken to process claims for Income Support.

Lord Freud: Income support claim clearance is monitored using an average actual clearance time target. This measures the average number of working days Jobcentre Plus takes to process claims for income support.
	The measure starts on the date that the claim form satisfies the evidence contribution (ie all information or evidence required, eg savings, has been provided) and ends when a notification is issued to the customer advising of the outcome of the claim, or the claim is withdrawn.
	The target is to process claims for income support in an average of nine days. The current year to date performance is 7.1 days.
	
		
			  April 10 May 10 June 10 July 10 Aug 10 Sept 10 Oct 10 Nov 10 YTD 
			 Income Support AACT 7.8 7.3 6.9 7.0 7.1 6.9 7.0 6.9 7.1

Benefits

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the time taken to process Income Support has increased over the last six months.

Lord Freud: Income support claim clearance is monitored using an average actual clearance time (AACT) target. This target is nine days, and performance has remained strong throughout the year.
	Within the last six months performance has remained consistent with no indication of an increase in clearance times.
	
		
			  April 10 May 10 June 10 July 10 Aug 10 Sept 10 Oct 10 Nov 10 YTD 
			 Income Support AACT 7.8 7.3 6.9 7.0 7.1 6.9 7.0 6.9 7.1

Benefits

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they expect the time taken to process Income Support to increase in 2011.

Lord Freud: There is no reason to think that the time taken to process income support claims will decline in 2011.
	Forecasts based on recent performance and known trends show that if current performance is maintained then AACT will be within the range of 6.7-9.1 days at April 2011.
	The time taken to clear all benefit claims is monitored very closely and remedial action is taken promptly when potential problems occur to help maintain the service provided to our customers.

British Overseas Territories

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to assist Overseas Territories in marketing their tourism attractions, financial services and other products to the rest of the world; and what mechanisms exist for British Overseas Territories to make suggestions on the marketing assistance they need to improve their economic viability.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government recognise the importance of economic development in the Overseas Territories, but economic affairs are a devolved competence. There are however regular discussions between UK government officials and representatives from the territories on economic issues. These were one of the topics discussed at the annual Overseas Territories Consultative Council in November, chaired by my honourable friend the Minister for the Overseas Territories; and at bilateral meetings he held with territory leaders during the week of the Consultative Council. Overseas Territory government representatives in London lead on promoting Overseas Territories' products and services. We will continue to liaise with them on a regular basis.

British Overseas Territories

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 13 December (WA 139-40), what limits are placed on each British Overseas Territory for the nomination of honours.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Under the UK honours rules there are no limits within which each British Overseas Territory can propose nominations for UK honours. Nominations are proposed for exceptional meritorious service. There are quotas for the numbers of awards for each Overseas Territory and these are reviewed every five years. Nominations may be sent in at any time but are usually submitted at twice yearly stages for the Diplomatic Service and Overseas (DS&O) New Year and Birthday Honours Lists.

Burial Act 1857

Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will amend the Burial Act 1857 to ensure that significant prehistorical or ancient human remains can lawfully be conserved and curated in perpetuity in appropriate museums or designated institutions for the purpose of scientific study and research.

Lord McNally: We are currently considering whether it may be possible to take forward changes to burial legislation generally, including the Burial Act 1857 which regulates the exhumation of human remains. In the mean time, we continue to apply the present exhumation licensing system in a way which recognises, as far as possible, the legitimate interests of archaeologists, museum professionals, and the general public.

Business Travel: Private Car Allowance

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government on what date the HM Revenue and Customs maximum rate for tax allowance for business use of private vehicles was fixed at 40p per mile; on what basis this was calculated; and what the present figure would be (a) on the same basis as the original calculation, and (b) adjusting for the retail prices index.

Lord Sassoon: The tax-free mileage allowance is part of the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) scheme, which is a statutory scheme introduced with effect from April 2002 at a rate of 40 pence per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25 pence per mile thereafter.
	AMAPs cater for a wide range of car drivers and the rates are designed to take into account all relevant factors. The levels strike a balance between allowing for the running costs of all cars, large and small, and delivering the Government's environmental policy, but are not linked to any particular inflation measure. The Government keep rates under regular review.

Care Homes

Baroness Browning: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many adults under the age of 60 have permanent placements in care homes.

Earl Howe: Data on the number of adults, aged 18-64, in receipt of permanent local authority funded registered residential and nursing care as at 31 March each year are collected and published by the NHS information centre for health and social care. Information is not available separately for those under the age of 60.
	I am informed by the information centre that there were 46,300 adults aged 18-64 in permanent local authority funded care home placement on 31 March 2010.
	Information on the numbers of care home residents who fund their own care is not collected centrally.

Care Homes: Allowances

Baroness Browning: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many adults currently residing in care homes are in receipt of personal budgets.

Earl Howe: This information is not held centrally as it is government policy to reduce burden on local councils and primary care trusts which would be the bodies responsible for collecting these data.
	A personal budget can be taken by an individual as a direct (cash) payment; as an account held and managed by the council in line with the individual's wishes; or as an account placed with a third party (provider) and called off by the individual; or as a mixture of these approaches. Direct payments are intended to support independent living and, as such, they cannot be used to pay for adults to live for the long term in residential care.
	They can be made to enable people to purchase for themselves a short stay in residential care, provided that the stay does not exceed a period of four consecutive weeks in any 12-month period. They may also be used by people living in a care home in relation to non-residential care services; for example, they may have temporary access to direct payments to try out independent living arrangements.

Contingent Liabilities

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 14 December (WA 175), whether they will place in the Library of the House any legal or accounting advice they have received on the definition of a "contingent liability".

Lord Howell of Guildford: Accounting advice on contingent liabilities for the whole UK Government are provided by HM Treasury's Government Financial Reporting Manual; these are the rules departments must follow in notifying contingent liabilities to Parliament. Specific commentary and advice on the UK's contingent liabilities relating to the overseas territories is available from the 2007 National Audit Office report Managing Risk in the Overseas Territories. Both are already publicly available.

Criminality Survey 2000

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the Criminality Survey 2000.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The report Levels of Self-Report Offending and Drug Use among Offenders: Findings from the Criminality Surveys is available on the Home Office website at www.rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/rdsolr1805.pdf. I will place a copy in the Library.

Crown Prosecution Service: Equality

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Crown Prosecution Service is taking action to reduce the predominance of women employees in the service, who outnumber men by a factor of three to one.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all of the staff that it employs. It does not operate a quota system for employees and does not plan to introduce one.
	As of 30 September 2010, the CPS employed 2,846 men and 5,623 women. The CPS is reducing its workforce through the application of recruitment controls and will conduct an equality impact assessment on any future plans to facilitate further workforce reductions.

Cumbria: Earthquake

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the geological significance of the earthquake in Cumbria on 21 December and of its implications for the future site of a new nuclear power station and a nuclear waste storage facility in West Cumbria.

Lord Marland: The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has advised that in order to satisfy the regulators that site licence conditions will be met, the site licensees of any new nuclear power station will need to demonstrate that the installed plant is able to withstand all site-specific natural hazards including earthquake, flooding or meteorological conditions. In order to ascertain the presence and status of any capable faults on a site, there would need to be geological site-specific investigations.
	Seismic activity levels across the UK are generally low. The reactor designs for new nuclear power stations being considered under the generic design assessment process are intended for worldwide application, with significantly higher baseline seismic resistance.
	Similarly, in siting a geological disposal facility (GDF) for higher activity radioactive waste a thorough seismic hazard assessment is one of the requirements of the regulators' safety assessment principles.
	Vibrations associated with earthquakes experienced in the UK will not significantly affect a repository at depth, but any potential for changes to the rock mass containing a GDF must be thoroughly investigated. This can only be properly undertaken later in the siting process when more in-depth investigations can take place at a particular site.
	Currently, local authorities in west Cumbria are considering whether or not they want to participate in the siting process for a GDF and if they do, a detailed assessment of the seismic hazard at any potential site will need to be carried out over many years.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of (a) the recent Human Rights Watch report that Congolese army officers and armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo are forcibly recruiting and training for conflict young men and boys to expand their ranks, and (b) how this forcible recruitment would affect the current peace process in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK is deeply concerned by the use of child soldiers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is actively working to tackle this issue. Following a UK recommendation, UN sanctions have been imposed against Lt Col Innocent Zimurinda of the Forces Armees de la Republique Dernocratique du Congo (FARDC) for recruitment of child soldiers. We continue to lobby the Government of DRC to arrest Bosco Ntaganda and hand him over to the International Criminal Court. We support the biometric census project of EU's Security Sector Reform Mission to DRC (EUSEC),which allows child soldiers in the FARDC to be successfully identified and removed. We also support the work of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) to demobilise child soldiers in armed groups.
	On the situation in eastern DRC, there has been significant recent progress in weakening the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and other armed groups, but high levels of violence against civilians continue. Addressing the issue of child soldiers will help reduce that violence.

Disabled People: Access to Work

The Lord Bishop of Blackburn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance has been given to JobcentrePlus regional offices on (a) the administration of Access to Work funding for disabled employees since new regulations come into force in April this year, (b) the calculation of the employer's contribution in relation to the overall size of the organisation, and (c) the classification of individual Church of England dioceses for the purposes of calculating employer contributions.

Lord Freud: The Government are committed to ensuring disabled people get and keep jobs, and Access to Work can help with this objective. It is the legal responsibility of employers under the Equality Act to provide reasonable adjustments to allow disabled staff to do their work. The Access to Work programme can provide funding towards equipment and support that would be above and beyond what is reasonable for an employer to supply.
	Changes to the Access to Work programme were put in place on 1 April 2010 to improve take-up among under-represented groups, including people working for smaller employers. As a result, where employer contributions are required larger employers have been asked to contribute more, allowing smaller employers to pay less and micro-employers, with fewer than 10 employees, to be exempt from any contributions at all.
	Where cost-sharing applies, all requests for adaptations to premises and equipment, special aids and equipment or miscellaneous (except travel in work) elements will operate as follows:
	A threshold below which AtW pays none of the costs;a £10,000 ceiling below which AtW pays up to 80 per cent of the approved costs and above which AtW pays all the costs over the three-year AtW period;Micro employers (1-9 employees) nil cost share;Small employers (10-49 employees) £300 threshold;Medium-sized employers (50-249 employees) £500 threshold;Large employers (250 employees or more) £1,000 threshold.
	In this context the Church of England is considered to be a larger employer, with more than 250 employees.

Disabled People: Independent Living

Baroness Wilkins: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Ministerial Statement by Lord Freud on 13 December (WS 62) regarding the Independent Living Fund, which disability organisations they have informally consulted; whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of each representation received; and, what representations the Department of Health has made in the discussions.

Lord Freud: A number of organisations were approached informally including: National Council for Independent Living, Independent Living in Scotland, National Forum, Equality 2025 and Equality & Human Rights. No written representations were received and there is no published document. The information obtained was part of the policy development process to inform Ministers.
	Any formal consultation on the Independent Living Fund that takes place in the future will be published in the usual way.

Disabled People: Independent Living

Baroness Wilkins: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the closure of the Independent Living Fund on equality for disabled people who (1) currently receive money from the fund, and (2) will not be able to claim funding from the fund when they might have been previously eligible; and whether they have taken or are taking steps to ensure that any negative impact is mitigated.

Lord Freud: The Independent Living Fund will continue to administer existing awards throughout this Parliament. We will publish an equality impact assessment with the consultation.
	The Independent Living Fund is a discretionary trust and payments from the fund do not take precedence over the responsibility of the local authority to make an assessment of a user's needs. Local authorities already have a statutory responsibility to provide social care support to their residents and as part of this responsibility, local authorities will need to consider the requirements of clients who may otherwise have received an additional Independent Living Fund package.

Economy

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government under whose instructions the Cabinet Secretary produced a paper on possible policy responses to a stalling in economic recovery (referred to as "Plan B"); and which Ministers received this report.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Cabinet Secretary regularly provides advice to Ministers across government on a wide range of policy issues, including the economy.

Egypt

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last made representations to the Government of Egypt over the religious freedoms of Coptic Christians.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government consider human rights, including the right to freedom of religion, as indivisible from our foreign policy objectives. The Coptic Church has a proud history of continuous worship in Egypt for almost 2,000 years. Together with our European partners, we raise with the Egyptian Government concerns about discrimination between people on grounds of religion. For example, at the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review of Egypt in June 2010, we called for the elimination of all legal provisions and policies which discriminate against members of religious minorities.
	Our ambassador spoke to officials at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 4 January 2011, following an explosion, believed to be a suicide bomb, outside a Coptic Church in Alexandria on New Year's Day.

Egypt

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they had observers present during the Egyptian parliamentary elections on 28 November and 5 December; and, if so, whether they regarded the elections as having been free and fair.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Our embassy in Cairo posted teams in Alexandria, Cairo and Minya (Upper Egypt) to observe the elections informally, along with other countries including EU member states. Their findings were similar to those reported by domestic observers, civil society organisations and election participants, who raised serious concerns about arrangements in the run-up to and during the elections. These included refusal of access for international monitors, lack of access in some instances for independent national monitors and candidate representatives to key parts of the voting and counting process and reports of attempts to limit media comment on the elections. In some cases, reported voting irregularities and the harassment and arrest of opposition candidates and their supporters amounted to serious interference in the electoral process. This calls into question the credibility of some of the results. We strongly encourage the Egyptian authorities to address those concerns.

Egypt

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of (a) the recent violent attacks on Egyptian Copts at Naga Hammadi and Omraneya; and (b) the general treatment of the Coptic population.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We remain concerned by reports of violence involving different religious communities in Egypt, of which the violence in Naga Hammadi is one example. We continue to follow the trial of two men accused of involvement in the attack. Together with our European partners, we also raise with the Egyptian Government concerns about discrimination on grounds of religion. For example, at the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review of Egypt in June 2010, we called for the elimination of all legal provisions and policies which discriminate against members of religious minorities.

Embryology

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many incidents of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) which resulted in the patient being hospitalised have been reported to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) since 1999 by centres 076, 162 and 170; and how many incidents of OHSS have been reported to the HFEA since 1999 in which any of those licensed clinics became aware of OHSS that was less severe.

Earl Howe: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that, under its adverse incident reporting requirements, centre 0076 has reported two cases of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Under the same requirements, centre 0162 has reported no cases of OHSS and centre 0170 has reported five cases. All of these cases involved admission to hospital, both of the cases at centre 0076 were graded as severe and all of the cases at centre 0170 were graded as moderate.

Energy: Carbon Reduction Commitment

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Marland on 8 December (WA 55), in light of the fact that Northern Ireland government departments will participate fully in the carbon reduction commitment (CRC), whether they will allow tenants of private landlords to participate in the CRC scheme; whether a Northern Ireland government department which leases an office from a private landlord will be exempt from the CRC scheme; and whether they will be permitted to be included in the scheme to show public leadership.

Baroness Rawlings: We are proposing to only disapply the landlord/tenant rule in the specific respect of supplies made from one Northern Ireland government department to another. Where a Northern Ireland government department leases an office from a private landlord, who supplies its tenants with the energy, then that private landlord will still be responsible for the energy under the CRC energy efficiency scheme.

Energy: Electricity

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what forecasts they have made of (a) baseload electricity prices, and (b) consumer electricity prices, now and in 2030, taking into account grid costs, capacity payments for wind and solar energy back-up, and renewable subsidies.

Lord Marland: On 16 December, the Government launched consultations on a package of options for reforming the electricity market. The preferred package is to have a contract for difference model for supporting low-carbon generation in combination with a targeted capacity mechanism, carbon price support and an emissions performance standard.
	For this preferred package:
	(a) the average wholesale electricity price is assumed to be £57/MWh in 2010 and £97/MWh in 2030 (in real 2009 prices). The increase reflects a number of factors including policy impacts and external factors such as rising fossil fuel and carbon prices; and(b) the average domestic retail electricity price (including VAT) is estimated to be £118/MWh in 2010 and £178/MWh in 2030 (in real 2009 prices). For non-domestic consumers, the average retail electricity price is estimated to be £86/MWh in 2010 and £143/MWh in 2030 (in real 2009 prices).
	As set out in the impact assessment accompanying the consultation, the percentage increase in electricity bills for domestic and non-domestic consumers, between now and 2030, will be lower than the increase in electricity prices due to the impact of energy efficiency policies over time.

EU: Accession Fund

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the European Union has an accession fund; and, if so, how much money (in pounds) is in the fund.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) is the European Union funding mechanism for candidate countries and potential candidate countries. According to the latest "Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council: Instrument for pre-accession assistance (IPA): Revised multi-annual indicative financial framework for 2011-13", the EU plans to allocate a total of €1,591,328,130 in 2010 and €1,796,793,000 in 2011. This is equivalent to £1,352,825,070 in 2010 and £1,527,495,536 in 2011 using an exchange rate of 1.1763.

EU: Currencies

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 30 November (WA 432), what assessment they have made of the costs to the United Kingdom of returning the countries listed to their national currencies, given the United Kingdom's contributions to the International Monetary Fund and European Union financial assistance.

Lord Sassoon: This is not a matter on which the Government should comment. Other European Union member states' currencies and membership or otherwise of the euro area are decisions for their respective Governments and not the UK.

EU: Financial Stability

Lord Lea of Crondall: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the meaning of the word "haircut", as referred to in Annex II of the conclusion of the European Council on 17 December.

Lord Sassoon: In this context, "haircut" means the loss that a debt investor would incur by agreeing to receive less than the full face value of the debt, as a result of an agreement with a debtor that is unable to pay the full amount.

EU: Scrutiny Reserve

Lord Roper: To ask Her Majesty's Government, for each department, in January to June 2010 (a) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Lords was overridden, (b) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Commons was overridden, and (c) in respect of how many documents an override occurred in both Houses or either House.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government are committed to the effective scrutiny by Parliament of European Union proposals. We will always seek to avoid breaching the scrutiny reserve resolutions of either House of Parliament where this is possible. Where overrides are required the Government will continue to account for their actions in writing to the chairmen of the scrutiny committees in each House. There were a high number of overrides during the period in question. No parliamentary scrutiny was possible following the dissolution of Parliament in April until the scrutiny committees were re-established in the new Parliament. The figures are below:
	
		
			 Department (a) House of Lords override (b) House of Commons override (c) No. of Overrides in both Houses (d) Total no. of overrides 
			 Department of Business, Innovation and Skills 1 0 0 1 
			 Department of Communities and Local Government 1 1 1 1 
			 Department of Culture, Media and Sport 1 1 1 1 
			 Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 2 2 2 2 
			 Department for International Development 7 3 3 7 
			 Department of Transport 1 1 1 1 
			 Department of Work and Pensions 1 0 0 1 
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 22 26 22 26 
			 Department of Health 6 7 6 7 
			 HM Treasury 9 7 7 9 
			 Ministry of Justice 3 4 3 4 
			  54 52 46 60

EU: Stability Fund

Lord Willoughby de Broke: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the loan to the European Union Stability Fund agreed on 6 May required ratification by Parliament.

Lord Sassoon: The European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSM) was created following agreement by a qualified majority of member states at the ECOFIN meeting on 9 May 2010. The Regulation was binding on all member states the day after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on 12 May 2010.

European Financial Stability Mechanism

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the then Leader of the Opposition was consulted by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer before reaching an agreement on 10 May to join the European Financial Stability Mechanism; and whether the agreement is capable of being abrogated.

Lord Sassoon: All contact between the Treasury and the opposition parties followed the agreed Cabinet Office guidelines for the 2010 general election.
	The European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSM) was created following agreement by a qualified majority of member states at the ECOFIN meeting on 9 May 2010. The Regulation was binding on all member states the day after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on 12 May 2010.

European Union

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the statement by the German Finance Minister, reported in the newspaper Bild am Sonntag on 12 December, that in ten years the structure of the European Union "will resemble far more what one describes as a political union".

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government have agreed that there should be no further transfer of competence or powers from the UK to the EU over the course of this Parliament. Any change to the EU treaties requires the unanimous agreement of every member state, and we are legislating to ensure that the British people will have the final say on any future proposed transfer of competences or powers to the EU.

Falkland Islands

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many tonnes of building aggregates have been shipped by the Ministry of Defence to the Falkland Islands in each of the last five years.

Lord Astor of Hever: In 2010 approximately 8,000 tonnes, and in 2009 approximately 21,000 tonnes of aggregates and building materials (sand and cement) were shipped to the Falkland Islands via the Falkland Islands Resupply Service to renew the runway. Information is not held for previous years.

Financial Services Authority

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people work for the Financial Services Authority; and what is the target number of employees.

Lord Sassoon: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) remains confident that it can continue to staff the FSA effectively at its projected headcount of 4,000 full-time equivalents. The intention is to cap the FSA's headcount at this level until the transition to the new regulatory authorities (the Prudential Regulatory Authority and the Consumer Protection and Markets Authority) in 2012. The current headcount is 3,854 full-time equivalent staff, as at end of November 2010.

Financial Services Authority

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Skilled Persons (Section 166) Reports the Financial Services Authority has commissioned in each of the calendar years from 2000 to 2009 inclusive and for the first eleven months of 2010; how much was charged in aggregate by the producers of those reports for each year and the first eleven months of 2010; and what percentage of each aggregate annual fee was paid to the "big four" accounting firms.

Lord Sassoon: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which is independent from government. The noble Lord's inquiry has been passed to the FSA, which will write directly to him on this subject.

Flooding

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the impact of the cuts to the United Kingdom's flood defence budget on the poorest communities.

Lord Henley: Those areas most at risk, and people in the most deprived parts of the country, will continue to be the focus for government flood and coastal erosion risk management support. This is a key consideration within the current consultation on the future funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management.

Food: Halal Meat

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the proportion of (a) beef, (b) pork, and (c) lamb, in United Kingdom supermarkets that is halal compliant.

Lord Henley: We do not hold information on the proportion of Halal compliant beef and lamb sold through UK supermarkets. Muslims are not permitted to eat pork and no pork on sale in UK supermarkets will be Halal compliant.
	EBLEX, the organisation for beef and lamb levy payers in England, has recently published a report on the Halal meat market. This provides an insight into the preferences, perceptions and motivations of Muslim consumers when buying meat. This report confirms most Muslims buy Halal meat mostly from Halal butchers and specialist outlets.

Framework Convention for Protection of National Minorities

Baroness Whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to receive the observations and recommendations of the Council of Europe on the United Kingdom's Third Report under the Framework Convention for protection of national minorities.

Baroness Hanham: We expect a delegation from the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities to visit the United Kingdom in March 2011 to gather evidence for its third opinion on the UK. It has not yet advised us of its timetable for producing that opinion.

Fuel Poverty

Lord Reay: To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of households classified as living in conditions of fuel poverty in England, Scotland and Wales are in rural areas.

Lord Marland: In 2008, the latest year for which this information is available, 25 per cent of all fuel-poor households in England were located in rural areas.
	In Wales in 2008, 51 per cent of all fuel-poor households were located in rural areas.
	In Scotland in 2008, 25 per cent of all fuel-poor households were located in rural areas. In 2009, this decreased slightly to 23 per cent.
	Figures for England and Wales use the ONS definition of rural, while the figures for Scotland are based on the Scottish Government's definition of rural.

Gaza

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the announcement by the Government of Israel that it will allow limited exports from Gaza of agricultural and textile products, and what plans they have to monitor the implementation of this process.

Lord Howell of Guildford: This is an encouraging step. The key will be implementation. As the EU Foreign Affairs Council made clear on 13 December, we encourage swift implementation by Israel and stand ready to work with Israel to achieve pre-2007 levels of exports in 2011. Exports are essential for the revival of Gaza's economy.

Gaza

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel about enlarging the fishing limit of three miles from shore in Gaza.

Lord Howell of Guildford: While we have not made any specific representations about Gaza's fishing limit recently, the Government have made it clear that the situation in Gaza is a tragedy and unsustainable. Together with the EU and the quartet, we continue to call on Israel to ease restrictions on access and to enable a return to economic normality-that includes easing restrictions so that Gaza's fishing industry can flourish.
	We welcome Israel's decision to move from a list of 120 permitted goods to a list of specific prohibited items. This shows that it is possible to improve access without compromising security. We are also encouraged by the recent decision by the Israeli Government to facilitate exports out of Gaza. We look to Israel to ensure swift implementation and stand ready to work with Israel to ensure a return to pre-summer 2007 levels of exports in 2011.

Gaza

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Verma on 13 December (Official Report, col. 396), what representations they have made to the Government of Israel about permitted exports from Gaza and their quantities in 2011.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Israel's recent announcement on exports was an encouraging step. The key will be implementation. We discuss these issues regularly with the Government of Israel and will continue to do so. Following the recent announcement the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development had positive discussions with the Government of Israel about the type and levels of exports they plan to achieve in 2011. We want to see a return to pre-2007 levels of exports in 2011 and have made clear that we stand ready, with EU partners, to work with Israel to achieve this.

Gaza

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken, following recent calls by human rights non-governmental organisations, to request the United Nations Security Council to implement effectively the UN Fact-Finding Mission's Report on the 2009 Gaza Conflict by assessing measures taken by the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to ensure accountability for serious violations of international law and referring the situation to the International Criminal Court under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Human Rights Council (HRC) Fact Finding Mission on Gaza Report (Goldstone report) raises very serious concerns about the conduct of both Israel and Hamas during the Gaza conflict. It is vital that each of the parties involved-Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority-address the allegations made against them.
	On 18 August 2010, the UN Secretary-General released his second follow-up report on this issue as he was mandated to do by the UN General Assembly resolution of 26 February. This included evidence provided by Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the progress of their investigations to date. As the UN Secretary-General indicated in his 18 August follow-up report on this issue, it is for the parties themselves to conduct credible investigations.
	The Government are committed to upholding accountability for allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law that arose from the Gaza conflict through full, fair and impartial investigations by the parties. We will continue to press the parties on this point and follow the progress of their investigations closely.

Government Departments: Non-Executive Directors

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the proposed appointment of non-executive directors to Departments of State differs in any material respects from the current operation of the Board of Directors of HM Treasury; and what is their assessment of the effectiveness of that board.

Lord Sassoon: Details of the enhanced role for non-executive directors and the new role of lead non-executive directors are set out on the Cabinet Office website, together with the part they will play in the wider reform of departmental boards. Non-executive directors will regularly assess board performance and will report annually to the Public Administration Select Committee.

Gypsies and Travellers

Baroness Whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will conclude the impact assessment related to the revocation of Planning Circular 01/06 (ODPM) Planning for Gypsy and Traveller sites; and when they will launch the associated consultation document.

Baroness Hanham: We will be holding a full public consultation on our intention to withdraw Circular 01/2006 (Planning for Gypsy and Traveller Caravan Sites) and replace it with a short, light-touch policy later in the new year. Impact assessments will be published as part of the consultation.

Health: Cancer

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that cancer survival rates in the United Kingdom do not fall in comparison to other western countries.

Earl Howe: We know England's cancer survival rates are currently poorer than many comparable countries. To understand more about the reasons for these persisting differences we are leading the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP). The ICBP is examining issues around late presentation and patients having more advanced stage at diagnosis; treatment variation; population awareness and beliefs about cancer; general practitioner (GP) beliefs and behaviour, and delays from first symptom to diagnosis. Lessons learnt from the ICBP will help us focus on making the improvements that deliver improved survival outcomes.
	It is already widely accepted that early diagnosis of cancer is key to improving survival rates, and we recently announced plans to speed up diagnosis by providing more than £25 million in 2011-12 to give GPs increased direct access to key diagnostic tests. These tests include non-obstetric ultrasound to support the diagnosis of ovarian cancer; flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) and colonoscopy to support the diagnosis of bowel cancer; and brain magnetic resonance imaging scans to support the diagnosis of brain cancer.
	Action to raise public awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer is also being taken to achieve earlier diagnosis of cancer. In September, we announced that £9 million would be provided through the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative to support 59 local campaigns that will work to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of bowel, lung and breast cancers and to encourage early presentation at a GP surgery. A further £1.75 million is being provided to pilot activity in two regions to test the viability of a possible national signs and symptoms campaign on bowel cancer.
	We are extending both the National Health Service Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (NHSBCSP) and NHS Breast Screening Programme to ensure the earlier diagnosis of cancer. The former is being extended to men and women aged 70 to 75, the latter to women aged 47 to 73. Those above the upper age limit will continue to be able to self-refer for screening.
	We are also introducing FS to the NHSBCSP Programme. This can detect abnormalities before they become cancer, as well has helping to detect cancer early. Experts estimate this technology will save around 3,000 lives a year. Sixty million pounds has been provided for a four-year rollout and, subject to the approval of the UK National Screening Committee, pilots will begin next year.
	The current review of the cancer reform strategy is considering what more needs to be done to achieve improved survival outcomes, and we aim to publish an updated strategy shortly.

Health: Cardiology

Lord Crisp: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the NHS Safe and Sustainable review of children's congenital cardiac services in England and Wales decided to exclude the option of keeping open the John Radcliffe Hospital's Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Unit.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government why the NHS Safe and Sustainable review of children's congenital cardiac services publicly announced that the John Radcliffe Hospital's Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Unit would be closed ahead of the completion of the review process and the publication of a public consultation document.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what opportunities supporters of the John Radcliffe Hospital's Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Unit (a) have had, and (b) will have, to participate in the NHS Safe and Sustainable review of children's congenital cardiac services in England.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all panel members had an opportunity to approve the independent review of paediatric cardiac surgery and clinical governance at the John Radcliffe Hospital's Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Unit before it was published in July.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether some members of the Safe and Sustainable review of children's congenital cardiac services panel were also members of the independent panel which reviewed paediatric cardiac surgery and clinical governance at the John Radcliffe Hospital's Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Unit.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how much time was given to the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust to review the draft of the independent review of paediatric cardiac surgery and clinical governance at the Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Unit before the final report was published in July.

Earl Howe: The decision about the future of the children's congenital cardiac service at the John Radcliffe Hospital and the other current services will not be taken until the outcome of the public consultation has been considered by the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT)l.
	The JCPCT aims to agree recommendations for reconfiguration at a public meeting in the next few months and these will be published for a full public consultation. Parents, National Health Service staff and the public will have the opportunity to make their views known during the consultation process, including on the future of the service at the John Radcliffe Hospital.
	The independent investigation into the children's congenital cardiac service at the John Radcliffe Hospital in July 2010 recommended the continued suspension of the service pending a decision on its future place within the national service by the NHS Safe and Sustainable review.
	In May and June 2010, an expert panel chaired by Professor Sir Ian Kennedy assessed all hospitals in England that provide children's congenital cardiac surgery services. The Safe and Sustainable assessment process assessed the ability of the current congenital cardiac surgical services to meet new standards in the future, and the outcome of this assessment was that the service at the John Radcliffe Hospital unit received the lowest ranking assessment of the current 11 centres by a significant margin.
	The Safe and Sustainable review team undertook further work to determine whether the location of the John Radcliffe Hospital could justify its inclusion in potential options on the grounds that this would improve overall access for children and families. This showed that, in the national context of a reduction in number of units, the inclusion of the John Radcliffe Hospital service in the potential options would not improve overall access for children and families.
	Having considered the outcome of this independent assessment, and on the basis of information currently available, the Safe and Sustainable review team is likely to recommend to the JCPCT that the eventual options for reconfiguration that are put out for public consultation in 2011 do not include the children's congenital cardiac surgery service at the John Radcliffe Hospital. This does not mean that the JCPCT has made any final decision about the future of the service at the John Radcliffe Hospital, pending the outcome of the public consultation.
	The review team has shared this information in advance of formal consultation and without delay so that the trust and other interested parties are kept informed of emerging potential recommendations in line with best stakeholder engagement practice.
	There has been a wide and robust engagement process. In October 2009 a national stakeholder event, attended by 200 people from across the country, included the representatives from John Radcliffe Hospital as well as parents and carers of children treated at Oxford. The outcome of this event informed the development of the clinical standards and the clinical case for change. There have also been further local stakeholder engagement events, held between June and July 2010. On 15 June 2010, the Safe and Sustainable engagement event took place in Oxford. It is planned that further local engagement events will take place as part of the formal consultation in 2011, including one in Oxford.
	Information regarding whether all panel members had an opportunity to approve the independent review of paediatric cardiac surgery and clinical governance at the John Radcliffe Hospital's paediatric cardiac surgery unit is not held centrally. This is a matter for South Central Strategic Health Authority.
	The Safe and Sustainable review steering group includes Mr William Brawn, consultant surgeon representing the British Congenital Cardiac Association, who was also a member of the independent panel that reviewed paediatric cardiac surgery and clinical governance at the John Radcliffe Hospital's Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Unit.
	The role of the Safe and Sustainable paediatric cardiac steering group was to develop the recommended clinical standards and the clinical model of care for paediatric cardiac services in England.
	No member of the JCPCT, which is responsible for consultation and decision-making for the Safe and Sustainable review, was a member of the independent panel.
	Information regarding how much time was given to the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust to review the draft of the independent review of paediatric cardiac surgery and clinical governance of the paediatric cardiac surgery unit is not held centrally. This is a matter for South Central Strategic Health Authority.
	1 The JCPCT was established as part of the NHS Safe and Sustainable Programme to develop the consultation document on behalf of PCTs and take decisions on issues, which are the subject of consultation.

Health: Midwifery

The Earl of Listowel: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they are seeking to make midwifery more attractive to practitioners.

Earl Howe: There are currently 26,451 midwives working in the National Health Service, more than ever before, supported by a record number of midwifery students which suggests that midwifery remains an attractive profession. The White Paper Liberating the NHS and supporting documents will build on this by putting clinicians in the driving seat, reducing red tape and upholding the NHS Constitution.

Health: Midwifery

The Earl of Listowel: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the numbers of midwives (a) leaving, and (b) entering, practice in each of the past 10 years.

Earl Howe: The NHS Information Centre does not hold the data requested as it does not hold information on the number of midwives registered to practice.
	The White Paper, Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS, makes clear our commitment to give people more control over their own care, such as extending maternity choice to include pre-conception, antenatal, and postnatal care. This includes home birth, midwife-led care and obstetric care.
	The number of midwives in terms of headcount increased by 787 to 26,451 in total from September 2008 to September 2009 (an increase of just over 3 per cent). The number of full time equivalent (fte) midwives increased by 597 to 20,236 in total (also just over 3 per cent) in the same period.
	The Government are committed to training the numbers of midwives needed subject to the birth rate and are considering ways of helping to improve midwife recruitment and retention. The planned number of midwives in training in 2010-11 is 2,493-a record level.
	We expect there will be a sustained increase in the number of new midwives available to the service over the next few years. However, it is for local healthcare providers to decide how best to organise their workforce to achieve better outcomes and value for money.

Health: Midwifery

The Earl of Listowel: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the vacancy rates in midwifery posts.

Earl Howe: As at 31 March 2010, the total vacancy rate for midwives in hospital and community health services (HCHS) was 2.7 per cent, which represents 559 vacancies.
	The three-month vacancy rate for midwives in HCHS was 1.2 per cent, which represents 255 vacancies.
	A vacancy is defined as one which employers are actively trying to fill. An employer is actively trying to fill a vacancy if a formal recruitment process is currently in operation (for example, advertisements in "trade" or general press, notification given to accepted internet recruitment sites like "NHS Jobs", etc) as at 31 March.
	A three-month vacancy is defined as one which has lasted three months or more and which employers are actively trying to fill as at 31 March. Thus, the emphasis is on vacancies which employers are finding hard to fill, rather than on normal staff turnover.

Health: Policy

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will ensure that policies on health strike a balance between individual responsibility for health and legislation by the state.

Earl Howe: The Government believe that there are clear limits on the extent to which our objectives for improving the health and well-being of the nation should be achieved through legislation.
	There is a role for all of us-in government, industry, at national, local and individual levels-in delivering the positive changes needed to improve the nation's health.
	In the recently published public health White Paper, Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our Strategy for Public Health in England, which has already been placed in the Library, the Government stated that they would consider what can be achieved through voluntary approaches to improving health before considering regulation.

Health: Preventive Health

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what research they have undertaken into the cost implications of investing in new innovative approaches to preventative health.

Earl Howe: The Government's proposals for public health evaluation and research are outlined in Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our Strategy for Public Health in England. The best evidence and evaluation will be used, supporting innovative approaches to behaviour change-with a new National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Public Health Research and a Policy Research Unit on Behaviour and Health. There will be greater transparency, with data on health outcomes published nationally and locally.
	Two ongoing research programmes have a focus on cost effectiveness. The NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme evaluates interventions in the National Health Service, and the NIHR Public Health Research (PHR) programme evaluates public health interventions delivered in other settings. Details of HTA and PHR projects are available on the programme websites at:
	www.hta.ac.uk/researchwww.phr.ac.uk/funded_projects

Health: Research

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government what meetings have taken place between the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health about including participation in health research commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research in the new rules on the reimbursement of expenses for participation.

Earl Howe: One meeting has taken place between the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health about including participation in health research commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research in the new rules on the reimbursement of expenses for participation. That meeting was on 23 June 2010. It concerned changes to the benefit rules introduced on 29 October 2009 that govern treatment of payments made to service users who are consulted on behalf of public bodies.
	Since that meeting, Her Majesty's Government have announced their intention to replace all existing working age benefits with a single universal credit. A White Paper, Universal Credit: Welfare that Works, setting out the Government's proposals, was published on 11 November (Cm 7957). The Work and Pensions Select Committee has decided to hold a short inquiry into the Government's proposals and has invited submissions from interested organisations and individuals.

Higher Education: Funding

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government what level of support is provided for the matched funding scheme introduced in 2008 during the new Corporate Social Responsibility Programme.

Lord Henley: The matched funding scheme for voluntary giving, which is run by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, has been allocated £200 million over the three academic years from 2008-09. Despite the need to address the deficit we have been able to announce recently that we will honour the commitment to fund the scheme in the final academic year 2011-12.

Higher Education: Funding

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the level of funding awarded from the Charity Research Support Fund in each of the years of the current Corporate Social Responsibility Programme, and what is the proposed level of funding for each of the years in the next Corporate Social Responsibility Programme.

Baroness Wilcox: I will write to my noble friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Higher Education: Tuition Fees

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the introduction of variable student fees in 2005, what additional income accrued to English universities in each of the years 2005-06 to 2009-10.

Lord Henley: The table below breaks down the income of English higher education institutions (HEIs) by source for academic years 2004-05 to 2008-09. Data for 2009-10 will be available in March 2011.
	
		
			 Income of English institutions by category 2004-05 to 2008-09 in £000s 
			 Source 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 
			 Tuition fees and education contracts 3,687,006 3,941,168 4,649,073 5,374,265 6,277,553 
			 Funding council grants 5,618,441 6,121,045 6,454,407 6,861,061 7,097,214 
			 Research grants and contracts 2,347,239 2,540,013 2,744,893 3,011,248 3,333,555 
			 Other income - other services rendered 822,328 1,009,779 1,108,518 1,231,880 1,346,692 
			 Other income - other 2,092,474 2,214,046 2,308,233 2,500,434 2,676,994 
			 Endowment and investment income 253,872 288,917 326,494 421,303 295,230 
			 Total income 14,821,360 16,114,968 17,591,618 19,400,191 21,027,238 
			 Change from previous year  +1,293,608 +1,476,650 +1,808,573 +1,627,047 
		
	
	Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
	Note: Figures are in cash terms not in real terms, and relate to the academic year, not financial year. "Tuition Fees and Contracts" includes fee income from UK, EU and non-EU students.
	"Other income- other services rendered" includes all income in respect of services rendered to outside bodies, including the supply of goods and consultancies
	"Other income - other" includes residences & catering operations, Grants from local authorities, income from health and hospital authorities, release of deferred capital grants, income from intellectual property rights, and other operating income.
	The English HE sector has changed over the period 2004-05 to 2008-09: Leeds College of Music joined the sector in 2005-06; data for University of Buckingham (a privately funded HEI) are included from 2005-06 onwards; Heythrop College, Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts and Guildhall School of Music and Drama joined the sector in 2006-07.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations declaration revealing information on the extermination of the Jewish communities of eastern Europe and announced in the House of Commons on 17 December 1942.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government have no plans specifically to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the UN declaration revealing information on the extermination of the Jewish communities of eastern Europe.
	The UK commemorates this, and other genocides, on Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January each year.

House of Lords: Life Peerages

Lord Bassam of Brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 14 December (WA 169-70) and the answer by Lord McNally on 1 December (Official Report, col. 1673), how and when the Prime Minister will fulfil the commitment to appoint Peers to the House of Lords to reflect the political party share of the vote at the last general election; and what assessment they have made of the numerical composition of the House of Lords once the commitment has been met.

Lord Strathclyde: Nominations for life peerages are a matter for the Prime Minister, whose most recent nominations were announced on 19 November. The coalition programme makes it clear that, pending reform of the House of Lords, appointments will be made with the objective of creating a second Chamber reflective of the share of the vote secured by the political parties in the last general election. This remains the Government's policy.

Houses of Parliament: Legislation

Lord Norton of Louth: To ask the Leader of the House what progress has been made towards introducing a public reading stage for bills.
	To ask the Leader of the House what progress has been made towards introducing a public reading day within a bill's committee stage.

Lord Strathclyde: The Leader's Group led by Lord Goodlad is in the process of reviewing the working practices of the House, including the way in which legislation is scrutinised. I expect to receive the group's recommendations in due course.

Housing: Homelessness

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce legislation in relation to the provision by local councils of private rented accommodation for homeless families.

Baroness Hanham: Homeless households are one of the groups that must be given reasonable preference-that is to say, overall priority-for allocations of social housing, and the Government have no plans to change this. The Localism Bill, introduced on 13 December. includes provision to give local authorities greater flexibility to bring the homelessness duty to an end with an offer of accommodation in the private rented sector, without requiring the applicant's agreement. We think local authorities are best placed to weigh the needs of individuals owed the homelessness duty against the overall demand for social housing in their district.

Iceland: Fin Whales

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Iceland with regard to their resumption of the large-scale killing of fin whales.

Lord Howell of Guildford: My honourable friend the Minister for Natural Environment and Fisheries at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Richard Benyon, discussed whaling with the Icelandic ambassador when they met in November 2010. The ambassador was advised of the strength of feeling in this country against Iceland's whaling and that whaling is incompatible with EU membership. The UK will continue to encourage Iceland to align itself as soon as possible with the EU's common position on whaling.

Immigration: Detention

Lord Dholakia: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children are in detention for immigration and asylum purposes.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The latest published statistics show that as at the 30 September 2010 there were five children, detained solely under Immigration Act powers, in UK Border Agency removal centres and short-term holding facilities. This figure is rounded to the nearest five and is of people recorded as being under 18 on 30 September 2010.
	Information on children detained solely under Immigration Act powers is available in the Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom, July-September 2010 in the Library of the House and the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html.

India

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will increase their support of government and non-governmental organisations' initiatives in India that target Dalits through education, economic development and access to justice, having regard to the extent to which Dalits are subject to human trafficking.

Lord Howell of Guildford: All UK development programmes are designed to benefit particularly the poorest and most excluded, including scheduled castes. For example, we have supported the Indian Government's Education for All scheme, which has helped to bring the proportion of Dalit children in school into line with their proportion in the general population. The Department for International Development (DfID) also supports specific measures in India's 120 poorest districts to promote the empowerment and access to benefits and services of excluded groups, including Dalits. The EU will conduct a workshop on social exclusion with the Government of India in February 2011.
	In terms of future plans, the Secretary of State for International Development has launched a bilateral aid review of all DfID country programmes, including India, to ensure that we are giving aid where it is most needed. We are in close dialogue with the Government of India about the future of the India programme. Details will be announced on conclusion of the review process.

India

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the announcements by Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram and the Union Minister of State for Home, Ajay Maken, regarding the setting up of integrated anti-human trafficking units and of training courses for Indian police and judiciary; and whether they will explore how the United Kingdom and India can share learning and best practice in this area.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We welcome the announcements made by the Indian Home Minister regarding the setting up of 330 anti-human trafficking units and a training course on anti-human trafficking at the Indira Gandhi National Open University in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs. We would be open to exploring the possibilities of the UK and India sharing learning and best practice in the future.

Inflation

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Bank of England's recent record in forecasting inflation.

Lord Sassoon: There are a range of independent forecasts of the economy. The Bank of England's assessment of its forecasting record can be found on page 48 of the August 2010 inflation report.

International Labour Organisation: Domestic Work

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they consider that a new International Labour Organization Convention on Domestic Work would ensure increased legal protection for domestic workers and help to make all relevant actors accountable worldwide; and whether they will reconsider their position from the International Labour Organization Conference in June 2010 and support a robust binding convention in June 2011.

Lord Freud: The proposed new ILO convention on decent work for domestic workers has the potential to enhance the protection that is currently provided by the existing ILO fundamental conventions for domestic workers worldwide. The specific requirements of the new instrument, including the responsibilities of the various actors involved, will be negotiated during the 2011 ILO conference. The UK Government will take into account a number of factors in the negotiations, including whether the convention will provide suitable protection, and whether it is formulated in a way that helps it to be widely ratified.

International Space Station

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many British scientific personnel have served on the orbiting International Space Station since it began ten years ago; and what percentage of the total number that has represented in each year.

Baroness Wilcox: No British scientific personnel have served on the International Space Station (ISS), although four of the NASA astronauts are British born, namely Nicholas Patrick, Michael Foale, Piers Sellers, and Richard Garriott.

Iraq

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the governments of Iraq and the United States about violence against Christians in Iraq.

Lord Howell of Guildford: On 10 November 2010 my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary met the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hoshyar Zebari, and raised the issue of Iraqi Christians with him. Mr Zebari agreed that the protection of Christians was the responsibility of the Iraqi Government.
	My right honourable friend the Prime Minister also raised this in a telephone conversation with Prime Minister al-Maliki on 15 November 2010. Prime Minister al-Maliki expressed concern at recent developments, and welcomed UK support, particularly on persuading the Christian minority groups to remain in Iraq. The Prime Minister made it clear that the Iraqis had the UK's full support.
	During his visit to Iraq from 22-25 November 2010, my honourable friend Alistair Burt raised the need to improve the protection of Christians and other minorities with all his interlocutors.
	We will continue to press the Iraqi authorities to do all they can to bring to justice those who are responsible for this attack on innocent worshippers, and all Iraq's politicians and diverse communities to work together to tackle the threat of violent extremism.
	The United States has also publicly condemned the attacks on the Christian community in Iraq. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to hold discussions with US colleagues on a range of issues relating to Iraq, including the situation of Iraqi Christians.

Israel

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take to take, as a signatory of the Geneva Convention, to ensure compliance by the government of Israel with international law as embodied in the Convention.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Israel is bound by international law in the same way as other countries. We both expect and encourage Israel to adhere to its obligations both as a member of the international community and as one of the few democracies in the Middle East.

Israel

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel concerning the recent destruction of agricultural facilities in Bani Hassan, and the removal of two agricultural projects created by the Palestinian Authority in the area of Wadi Qana, and in the town of Dair Estia-Salfit.

Lord Howell of Guildford: As my noble friend is aware, the UK has a strong record of lobbying hard on issues relating to house demolitions and settlement building and we regularly raise our concerns with the Israeli authorities. We are further concerned at a recent increase in demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem and Area C. We continue to monitor the situation closely and will continue to raise the matter with the Israeli Government as necessary.

Israel

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel concerning the recent demolition of six nurseries and three stores in Hizma in the Jerusalem Governorate.

Lord Howell of Guildford: As my noble friend is aware, the UK has a strong record of lobbying hard on issues relating to house demolitions and settlement building and we regularly raise our concerns with the Israeli authorities. We are further concerned at a recent increase in demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem and Area C. We continue to monitor the situation closely and to raise the matter with the Israeli Government as necessary.

Israel

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel concerning the recent destruction of a mosque, two residential structures and four barns in Khirbet Yasra (Tubas) in the northern valley displacing two families of eleven members, and a house in Yatta (Hebron) leaving 25 people without shelter.

Lord Howell of Guildford: As my noble friend is aware, the UK has a strong record of lobbying hard on issues relating to house demolitions and settlement building and we regularly raise our concerns with the Israeli authorities. We are further concerned at a recent increase in demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem and Area C. We continue to monitor the situation closely and will continue to raise these issues with the Israeli Government as necessary.

Israel and Palestine: West Bank

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the government of the United States' decision to end its efforts to convince Israel to stop building settlements in the West Bank and what representations have they made on this matter.

Lord Howell of Guildford: My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary made our position clear in his statement of 9 December in which he said:
	"I am disappointed that Israel has not renewed the freeze on settlement construction and that peace talks are currently on hold. It is Britain's longstanding view that settlements are illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace.
	I spoke to US Envoy Senator Mitchell today to underline Britain's support for work to find a way forward. The leadership of the United States remains vital.
	There is an urgent need for progress to secure a two state solution, based on 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the future capital of two states and with a fair settlement for refugees. This is important for Israelis, for Palestinians and for the international community including the UK.
	We will continue to work with the United States, the parties to the conflict and with our EU and UN partners to achieve a two state solution. In addition, we will continue to press for an end to all settlement activity".

Kenya

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the International Criminal Court's motion to indict several high-ranking Kenyan politicians, including the finance minister and a former national police chief, for crimes against humanity during the aftermath of Kenya's election in 2007 and early 2008.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The naming by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of suspects behind Kenya's post-election violence of 2007-08 is a further step towards ensuring much needed justice for the victims of that violence. Polls suggest the majority of Kenyan citizens firmly support the ICC, which has had to intervene because of the failure by Kenya's politicians to agree a credible local judicial mechanism to take the cases forward. We welcome the Kenyan Government's commitment to co-operate fully with the court. The ICC process is an important element of the wider reform agenda agreed by the coalition parties to address the underlying causes of Kenya's instability.

Kenya

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Kenya and the International Criminal Court (ICC) about providing sufficient witness protection in the context of the ICC's motion to indict several high-ranking Kenyan politicians for crimes against humanity.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Together with our EU and other international partners, we have regularly urged the Government of Kenya to provide sufficient witness protection, make clear their condemnation of witness intimidation and ensure that those suspected of intimidation face prosecution; we did so recently in a meeting with Kenya's Minister of Justice on 22 November and in an article published in the local media on 13 December. We support chief prosecutor Moreno Ocampo's statement on 15 December that he would seek to prosecute at the International Criminal Court anyone suspected of intimidating or bribing witnesses. The UK has contributed £200,000 to the International Criminal Court witness protection programme for Kenya. This funding underlines the UK's commitment to a successful investigation in Kenya and the importance of protecting witnesses at risk.

Local Government: Funding

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take to ensure that cutbacks in central government funding to Cornwall County Council do not undermine programmes supported by European Union convergence arrangements.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether cutbacks in central government funding to Cornwall County Council will lead to the reduction of European Union convergence funding for the county or the cutting of programmes launched or planned as part of this European Union initiative.

Baroness Hanham: We expect that match-funding for European structural funds programmes in Cornwall will continue to be available from a range of public and private sector sources.
	The European structural funds allocated to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly for the 2007-13 programme are guaranteed, provided the programmes meet their annual spend targets.

Lord's Resistance Army

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the threat posed by the Lord's Resistance Army to Uganda and Sudan.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We assess that the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) continues to pose an unprincipled and violent threat to civilian populations throughout the region, in particular in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and southern Sudan. This was demonstrated recently by attacks in the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo, which I condemn unreservedly.

Migration Advisory Committee

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Jones on 27 September (WA 545), what are the criteria for choosing the members of the Migration Advisory Committee; whether they will widen the scope of its membership beyond labour market economists; and whether they will include those representing business and employee interests affected by inward migration and intra-company transfers.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The membership of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) was determined following the 2006 public consultation on establishing the MAC. There are no fixed criteria for appointing members. In addition to labour market economists, the Commission for Employment and Skills and the UK Border Agency are also represented. The Government have no current plans to alter the membership of the MAC.

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government what changes are planned to the roles and responsibilities of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what changes they are planning to the ways in which the National Institute for Health Clinical Excellence will influence general practitioner partnerships.

Earl Howe: As the White Paper Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS made clear and, subject to parliamentary approval, we will establish the National Institute for Health Clinical Excellence (NICE) on a firmer statutory footing to secure its independence and extend its remit to social care.
	NICE will provide advice to both the National Health Service Commissioning Board and Ministers to enable them to discharge their respective quality improvement functions effectively. The NHS Commissioning Board will work with NICE to ensure that general practitioner consortia have access to the most up-to-date expert advice on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of different interventions, including medicines.

NHS: Ambulance Trusts

Lord Colwyn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are putting in place to support the country's NHS Ambulance Trusts in relation to reaction time standards during periods of exceptional weather.

Earl Howe: The Department of Health expects each ambulance trust to provide and manage its service locally, with all ambulance trusts still required to meet all existing national response time targets across the full operational year; including during the winter period. This includes the safe use of its fleet, which can be of particular importance when vehicles are being driven in adverse weather conditions.

NHS: Reform

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will ensure that local general practitioners engage with innovators and entrepreneurs and that their training takes this into account.

Earl Howe: The White Paper Liberating the NHS set out our proposals to devolve power and responsibility for commissioning services to local consortia of general practitioner (GP) practices supported by the creation of a NHS Commissioning Board.
	The reforms will liberate professionals and providers from top-down control and secure the quality, innovation and productivity to improve outcomes. We are confident that giving clinicians direct influence over commissioning decisions will ensure that commissioning will be undertaken much closer to patients and the public, and that commissioning decisions will be carried out in a more innovative and effective way. Giving patients greater choice and ensuring effective competition will stimulate innovation and improvement.
	The content of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is the competent authority for medical training in the United Kingdom. GMC approval of the GP training curriculum in the future will consequently need to ensure it reflects the responsibilities of GPs following implementation of the White Paper proposals.

NHS: Restructuring

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will use the restructuring of the health service to create a new narrative of health which goes beyond the traditional biomedical model.

Earl Howe: I will shortly write to the noble Lord to answer this question, and others, which time did not permit me to address during a debate in the House on 16 December 2010.

Northern Ireland: Equality Commission and Parades Commission

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they provided the media with biographical details of those recently appointed to the Equality Commission Northern Ireland and the Parades Commission; and, if so, why those details were not placed on the Northern Ireland Office's media centre website.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: Biographical details of those recently appointed to the Equality Commission Northern Ireland and the Parades Commission were included in the notes to editors element of the individual news releases circulated to the media.
	The core text of the news releases was published on the Northern Ireland Office website at the same time. Notes to editors are not routinely published on the website.

Northern Ireland: Women

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Shutt of Greetland on 8 December (WA 70), what measures are being taken to increase the representation of women in Northern Ireland in public and political life.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: Consistent with the requirements of Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the Northern Ireland Executive undertakes considerable work to promote gender equality, and all Northern Ireland departments and the Northern Ireland Office are required to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity between men and women generally when making public appointments.
	In addition, the Equality Act 2010 has extended to Northern Ireland until 2030 the period during which women only shortlists would be permitted for the purposes of candidate selection.
	The Government are committed to ending dual mandates in Northern Ireland, which will allow elected offices to become more open to groups currently underrepresented, including women.

Parking Fines

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to reports of private bailiffs using common law distraint to enforce alleged debts incurred by motorists who had parked on private property; and whether they will issue guidance for private parking companies and private bailiffs firms to clarify this area of law.

Lord McNally: The Government are unaware of reports or other evidence about bailiffs using common law distraint powers to enforce alleged debts incurred by motorists who park on private property. It would be inappropriate for the Government to issue guidance to private companies on the lawfulness or otherwise of their enforcement activity. That would be a matter for the court to determine if challenged by a debtor.

Parking Fines

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will prevent private parking companies and private bailiffs which pursue alleged debts incurred by motorists who had parked on private property obtaining keeper details from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority where there is no proven intention of the private parking companies issuing a county court claim or other form of legal recovery.

Earl Attlee: There are no plans to change the rules for the release of information to private car parking companies. Information is not released directly to bailiffs for car parking related incidents. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has policies and procedures in place to ensure data are disclosed only where it is both lawful and fair to do so.

Pensions

Lord Shipley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will end the practice of not uprating pensions of United Kingdom pensioners living overseas.

Lord Freud: The UK state pension is payable worldwide but is only up-rated abroad where there is a legal requirement or reciprocal agreement to do so. A well known court case challenging the UK's position was heard by the European Court of Human Rights' Grand Chamber in September 2009 and the Court's judgment of March 2010 was in the UK's favour. We continue to take our obligations under the terms of the European Convention on Human Rights seriously and are satisfied that we are complying. We therefore have no plans to make any changes to the current arrangements.

Pensions

Lord Shipley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the administrative cost to the Department for Work and Pensions of uprating the frozen pensions of United Kingdom pensioners living abroad while they are visiting the United Kingdom or the European Union or countries with whom there are reciprocal agreements.

Lord Freud: The Department for Work and Pensions does not collect data on the "administrative costs" relating to this specific matter. There is no business need for the collection of this data, therefore I am unable provide you with the information you have requested.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to make Police and Crime Commissioners subject to an annual general meeting for questions from all stakeholders.

Baroness Neville-Jones: As set out in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, Police and Crime Commissioners will be required to attend an annual public meeting with their Police and Crime Panel, who will provide robust scrutiny, challenge, and advice to the Commissioner on his or her decisions on policing in the force area.
	The Bill also requires Commissioners to engage properly with all those with an interest in policing in their force area, but it will be for Commissioners themselves to choose how best to achieve this.

Prisoners: Education

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of why, according to the Prison Factfile of December 2010 published by the Prison Reform Trust (page 50), only about 20 per cent of prisoners "with serious literacy or numeracy needs enrol on a course that would help them".

Lord McNally: The National Audit Office in its report Meeting Needs? The Offenders' Learning and Skills Service [HC310-March 2008] identified the key obstacles to ensuring offenders engage with learning and skills as: the availability of appropriate courses; negative perceptions of education among prisoners; other activities were assessed as having higher priorities for some prisoners; and the lack of strong enough incentives for offenders to attend.
	The Government accepted the National Audit Office's analysis and are responding to these obstacles through their review of offender learning (Breaking the Cycle: Straight to Skills, to be published shortly), particularly by ensuring offender learning resources are properly distributed and by putting a significantly enhanced focus on developing in offenders the skills employers need, including the underpinning skills of literacy and numeracy.
	Increasingly, opportunities are being offered for prisoners to access learning and skills outside of the traditional classroom environment. Embedded learning offers prisoners the opportunity to learn functional skills (numeracy, literacy and language) in a work environment. Other interventions such as offending behaviour programmes, thinking skills and other activities have a learning and skills element embedded. This means that learning opportunities have direct relevance to the activity. The availability of learning and skills across the prison means that the number of prisoners that access learning and skills is on the increase.

Prisoners: Education

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of why, according to the Prison Factfile of December 2010 published by the Prison Reform Trust (page 50), only "just under a third of the prison population is attending education classes".

Lord McNally: The information in the Prison Reform Trust's Prison Factfile of December 2010 was an estimate of the prisoner participation rate in education prior to the introduction of new offender learning delivery arrangements in 2005. Since then, the National Audit Office in Meeting Needs? The Offenders' Learning and Skills Service [HC310-March 2008] reported that 42 per cent of offenders starting custodial sentences in September 2006 had at least registered for a learning and skills course in the nine months between then and June 2007. Latest Skills Funding Agency data show that, over the course of the 2009-10 academic year, an average of 41 per cent of the adult (age 18+) population in English public sector prisons participated in education on any one day.
	Increasingly, opportunities are being offered for prisoners to access learning and skills outside of the traditional classroom environment. Embedded learning offers prisoners the opportunity to learn functional skills (numeracy, literacy and language) in a work environment. Other interventions such as offending behaviour programmes, thinking skills and other activities have a learning and skills element embedded. This means that learning opportunities have direct relevance to the activity. The availability of learning and skills across the prison means that the number of prisoners that access learning and skills is on the increase.

Prisoners: Education

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of why, according to the Prison Factfile of December 2010 published by the Prison Reform Trust (page 50), "only one third of education managers regularly receive prisoners' records following transfers".

Lord McNally: The information in the Prison Reform Trust's Prison Factfile of December 2010 relating to transfer of prisoner records dates back to a 2002 report. Since then, we have introduced a new IT system to make information on prisoner learning needs and progress available immediately as prisoners move between establishments. In her annual report for 2009-10, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector notes that "The quality of initial assessments and information-sharing between prisons continues to improve. As a result, the number of repeat assessments has significantly reduced".

Prisoners: Education

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty's Government what improved outcomes arose as a result of funding for prison education increasing from £47.5 million in 1999 to £122 million in 2004.

Lord McNally: There was an increase in the number of basic skills awards from 25,000 in 2001 to over 63,000 in 2004-05.
	Also, the average number of hours that prisoners spent in education activity rose from 6.37 hours per prisoner per week in 1999-2000 to 6.88 hours per prisoner per week in 2004-05.
	The increased funding also enabled the introduction of a head of learning and skills to each adult, public sector prison in England. The Adult Learning Inspectorate's chief inspector's annual report for 2003-04 said:
	"Most prisons gave education and training a high priority. Their understanding of the importance of learning and education to the resettlement of offenders grew. The impact of the newly appointed heads of learning and skills began to be felt".
	The latter part of this period saw the full education inspection regime applied to prison learning from 2002, and the inadequacy rate for learning and skills provision in prisons fell year-on-year, and continued to fall in subsequent years.

Prudential Regulatory Authority

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will bring forward proposals to enable the Prudential Regulatory Authority to publish reports following an investigation of a bank without the consent of the bank concerned where it is in the public interest to do so.

Lord Sassoon: As part of the reforms to the regulatory architecture, the Government are working with the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to consider what powers should be given to the authorities, including the Prudential Regulation Authority, to gather, share and disclose information.
	The Government's view is that, where there is a legitimate public interest, the results of investigations into firms should be published subject to appropriate safeguards and the constraints of European law. As set out in Adair Turner's letter to the chair of the Treasury Select Committee of 15 December 2010, the single market directives put in place restrictions on the disclosure of confidential information. These restrictions cannot be circumvented by national law.

Public Assets: Sales

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimates they have made about the amounts that might be realised from the sales of public assets in the years up to and including 2015.

Lord Sassoon: I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave him today (HL5290).
	Departments' spending review capital departmental expenditure limit settlements were agreed net of assumed fixed asset sales. In addition, the Government have made a number of announcements about asset and concession sales where substantial progress is expected within 12 months. It is not, however, appropriate to provide forecasts of the potential proceeds, for commercial reasons, because policy parameters have not yet been fully determined, and because there is considerable uncertainty over the likely timing and quantity of proceeds.

Republic of Ireland: Financial Support

Lord Willoughby de Broke: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the legal basis for the proposed loan of £3.2 billion to the Republic of Ireland; what is the source of funds for the loan; and on what terms the loan will be made.

Lord Sassoon: The legal basis for the proposed bilateral loan to Ireland is the Loans to Ireland Act 2010. The scoring in the public sector accounts of financial assistance to Ireland is a matter for the independent Office for National Statistics. A loan would usually raise the UK's public sector net cash requirement, but should not affect public sector net borrowing. Details of the financial assistance package, which was announced on 28 November, have not yet been finalised.

Republic of Ireland: Financial Support

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they agreed to a range of loans to the Republic of Ireland; and whether they were aware that £36 million was to be spent by the Government of the Republic of Ireland on bonuses to senior staff of the state rescued bank Allied Irish Banks and that only those officials not living in the United Kingdom were to be eligible for those bonuses.

Lord Sassoon: The Government announced their decision, in principle, to participate in the package of assistance to the Republic of Ireland in the Statement to both Houses on 28 November 2010.
	The Irish High Court ruled on 7 December that one of Allied Irish Banks' (AIB) former employees was entitled to receive his bonus for performance in 2008.
	The Irish Minister for Finance stated on 13 December that he had written to AIB outlining that the payment of the required financial support for AIB will be conditional on the non-payment of bonuses awarded, irrespective of when they may have been earned. He also stated that the board of AIB had considered the Minister's letter and decided not to pay the bonus payments.

Russia

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between the Russian state and the youth organisation known as "Nashi"; and whether they have made representations to the Government of Russia about attacks on journalists.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Nashi is a voluntary organisation and we are not aware of a formal relationship with the Government of Russia. There are informal links between Nashi and the Russian Government. For example, the former head of Nashi, Vasiliy Yakemenko, is now head of Rosmolodezh, the Federal Government's youth agency. Senior officials, including Prime Minister Putin and First Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov, have attended Nashi events in the past.
	The Government continue to urge Russia to bring to justice those responsible for the unresolved murder of journalists. We are deeply concerned about attacks on journalists in Russia and the low success rate in investigating and prosecuting crimes against journalists. The perception of a climate of impunity undermines freedom of expression and human rights in Russia.
	The UK supported the statement made on 17 November 2010 by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton concerning attacks on journalists in Russia. We will continue to raise this issue both with our EU partners and within the framework of our annual bilateral human rights dialogue with the Russian Government.

Russia

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consider imposing visa restrictions on those linked with the death in custody in Russia of Mr Sergei Magnitsky.

Baroness Neville-Jones: As the Prime Minister outlined in a previous response to this issue, the Government remain very concerned by Mr Magnitsky's case. President Medvedev announced an official investigation into this case in November 2009 and we are looking forward to receiving the findings of such investigation in the new year. Until then, it would not be appropriate for me to comment any further.

Schools: Faith Schools

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage faith schools to admit more pupils from poorer families.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Through the introduction of the pupil premium for those pupils eligible for free school meals, the Government are encouraging all schools, including faith schools, to admit more pupils from deprived backgrounds. In addition to this, faith schools becoming academies or free schools will be able to prioritise children in receipt of FSM in their admission arrangements.

Schools: Pupil Premium

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government how the pupil premium will be funded beyond the age of 16.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The equivalent of a pupil premium for 16 to 19 year-olds attending schools and colleges or funded as an apprentice already exists within the 16 to 18 funding formula. The formula has two elements which provide disadvantaged learners with a funding supplement. These are the funding linked to the disadvantage uplift within the formula and that for additional learning support. Details of the 16 to 18 funding formula for schools and colleges for 2010-11 can be found on the website of the Young People's Learning Agency at http://readingroom. ypla.gov.uk/ypla/funding rates and formula v2.2.pdf and that for apprenticeships on the Skills Funding Agency website at http://readingroom.skillsfundingagency. bis.gov.uk/sfa/Aprenticeship-funding-requirements-2010 11-v1.pdf.
	For the 2010-11 academic year, the funding for disadvantage and ALS was £561 million within the 16 to 18 budget of £7,503 billion. For the 2011-12 academic year this will increase by over one-third to £770 million, within a budget of £7,612 billion. In 2011 we will review the funding formula to look at how it can better support the coalition Government's aims of transparency and fairness and, in particular, how targeted support for 16 to 18 year-old learners can be aligned with the pupil premium for pre-16s and the national scholarship programme in higher education.

Spending Review 2010

Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the impact of Spending Review 2010 on the funding of centres for musical education and performance by local authorities.

Lord Hill of Oareford: In September the Secretary of State asked Darren Henley, the Managing Director of Classic FM, to carry out a review of music education and to make a series of recommendations about the best use of funds in the future. More than 900 parents, schools and music specialists have responded to a call for evidence issued by Mr Henley, and the review is expected to make its recommendations to Ministers before the end of the year. No decisions will be made on the level of funding to be made available for music education until the review has reported.

Sudan

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to both North and South Sudan on the security risks to Abyei, southern Sudan, in advance of the referendum in January.

Lord Howell of Guildford: My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary spoke to Vice-President Taha on 13 December. My honourable friend the Minister for Africa spoke to President Kiir on 5 December. In both conversations, we stressed the need for progress on Abyei and the UK's long-term commitment to stability and security in both northern and southern Sudan.

Sudan

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the voting rights of the Miseriya seasonal migrants in the referendum in Abyei.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We remain very concerned by the lack of preparation for the Abyei referendum including the lack of agreement on voting rights. We continue to support the work of Thabo Mbeki as he hosts tasks between north and south to discuss the Abyei region and wider comprehensive peace agreement issues.

Sudan

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what safeguards will be put in place if there is to be increased trade with Sudan to prevent United Kingdom companies becoming complicit in human rights abuses and to ensure that marginalised communities benefit from the trade.

Lord Howell of Guildford: There is no question of this Government prioritising commercial links over the very real and pressing human rights concerns that we continue to have about Sudan. We encourage British companies to be aware of the impact of their investments abroad. With non-governmental organisations and other development partners, we closely monitor the human rights situation in Sudan.

Sudan

Baroness Cox: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the concern of the Ngok Dinka leaders in Abyei over the failure to date of any provision for a referendum and a unilateral declaration of secession before 9 January 2011; and what representations they will make to all parties concerned on preventing an escalation of conflict in response to the situation.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We are aware of the issues raised by the Ngok Dinka leaders. We remain concerned about the tensions in Abyei and the lack of progress towards an Abyei referendum.
	We continue to support the work of Thabo Mbeki as he hosts talks between North and South Sudan to discuss the future of Abyei. We urge both parties to find a way forward within the framework of the comprehensive peace agreement.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the stability of Abyei and other border areas of Sudan in advance of the January 2011 referendum; what information they have about the level of arms and capacity for violent confrontation in disputed areas; and what discussions they have had with international partners about the situation.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We remain concerned at rising tensions in Abyei and lack of progress towards the Abyei referendum. We continue to support the work of Thabo Mbeki as he hosts talks between north and south Sudan to discuss Abyei. We urge both parties to find a way forward within the framework of the comprehensive peace agreement.

Turkey

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 15 December (WA 201-2), whether they will make direct representations to the Government of Turkey concerning the difficulties facing United Kingdom Anglicans there.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We do not plan to make such representations to the Turkish Government. However, our embassy in Ankara continues to raise the issue of respect for all religious minorities in its wider discussions on human rights.

Turkey

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Howell of Guildford on 15 December (WA 202), whether they will make direct representations to the Government of Turkey concerning the difficulties over worship facing United Kingdom Roman Catholics in Antalya.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We do not plan to make such representation to the Turkish Government. However, our embassy in Ankara continues to raise the issue of respect for all religious minorities in its wider discussions on human rights.

Turkey

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hanham on 15 December (WA 202), when they last drew those facts about freedom of worship in the United Kingdom to the attention of the Turkish authorities directly, rather than through European Union channels.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government have not discussed freedom of worship in the United Kingdom with the Turkish authorities. However, our embassy in Ankara regularly raises the issue of religious freedom in Turkey with its Turkish counterparts.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the economy of the Turks and Caicos Islands of the imposition of Direct Rule; and whether they are aware of any research demonstrating a link between the state of that territory's economy and the current rate of suicides.

Lord Howell of Guildford: There is little current or historic economic data on which to make an accurate assessment.
	The economy of the Turks and Caicos Islands continues to be badly affected by the loss of construction activity since the global financial crisis began in 2008 and the secondary impact this continues to have across other economic sectors. Construction of luxury real estate for overseas buyers was the main engine of growth in the economy during the past decade, but supply far outstripped demand during this period. There was also an unsustainable expansion of the public sector during the same period. Visitor numbers have, however, increased significantly over the past two years following a small drop in numbers during 2008.
	We are not aware of any research linking the state of the economy with the number of suicides.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they are giving to the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands to counteract the rise in unemployment and social unrest since the imposition of Direct Rule.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The UK Government are taking a number of measures to help the Turks and Caicos Islands Government provide a stable economic environment that will lead to improved employment prospects for those out of work.
	The labour department in the Turks and Caicos Islands is in constant dialogue with the major employers within the territory to explore further employment opportunities for the people of the islands.
	We have not seen a rise in social unrest since the elected Government in the Turks and Caicos Islands was suspended in 2009.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ability of the Turks and Caicos Islands to recover from the decline in their economy since the imposition of direct rule with or without (a) a loan, or (b) a direct stimulus from HM Treasury.

Lord Howell of Guildford: To recover from its economic decline the Turks and Caicos Islands Government need to meet the challenge of providing a stable economic environment. This means the establishment of robust and transparent public financial management processes, and a strengthening of the Turks and Caicos Islands Government's capacity to manage their public finances.
	The Department for International Development has provided a chief financial officer to the Turks and Caicos Islands Government, to meet the urgent task of addressing their structural deficit and putting them on a course towards a sustainable fiscal surplus in the financial year 2012-13. In addition, the department is reaching the final stages of putting in place a medium-term financial package for the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the likely cost to HM Treasury of assisting the Turks and Caicos Islands to recover from the decline in its economy since the imposition of Direct Rule.

Lord Howell of Guildford: In his statement to Parliament of July 2010 my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development announced that his department would provide a temporary package of financial support for the Turks and Caicos Islands Government. The department is now reaching the final stages of putting the package in place, which it intends to be at or near zero cost to the UK Government over the medium term.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the reasons for the increase in court cases in the Turks and Caicos Islands since the imposition of Direct Rule; and whether there are sufficient legal officers in the territory to deal with the increased workload.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The question does not state whether it refers to civil or criminal cases, or both. But there are no comparative data in the Turks and Caicos Islands on this issue. Although the islands' authorities could gather and analyse such data, this could be done only at disproportionate cost.
	Two new lawyers have recently joined the Attorney-General's chambers with a third due to begin work in the new year. Of these three lawyers, one has been assigned to civil work, one to criminal and the third will join the criminal law team. Further recruitment will be necessary to ensure that the workload can be dealt with efficiently.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they have given to legal officers in the Turks and Caicos Islands on how to deal with cases involving citizens with mental health difficulties; and whether following the imposition of direct rule such persons continue to be housed and treated in countries with specialist care facilities.

Lord Howell of Guildford: There is mental health legislation in place covering the issue. No advice on how to deal with offenders who have mental difficulties has been given to legal officers in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Ten patients from the Turks and Caicos Islands are being treated on a permanent basis in Jamaica.
	The Ministry of Health is recruiting a psychiatrist and consideration is being given to converting an existing facility into a care facility for those with mental health difficulties.
	Those individuals with mental health problems who are committed to prison are seen on a regular basis by nursing staff and a visiting psychiatrist. Those requiring longer-term treatment and care may be sent overseas as required. The Turks and Caicos Islands Government are considering holding a mental health workshop in 2011.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people are engaged in the Turks and Caicos Islands special prosecution team investigating alleged corruption; how they were recruited; and how many are residents of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Lord Howell of Guildford: There are approximately 40 staff currently employed on the special investigation and prosecution team. None are residents of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The investigators are for the most part experienced former detectives from the UK police. This is a reflection of the size of the investigation and the number of extremely serious and interlinked allegations of corruption, misconduct in public office and money laundering that were recommended for investigation by the commission of inquiry and that have come to light after the commission reported.
	For the most part, the investigators have been provided by specialist recruitment firms. They are all employed, after open competition and interview, on three-month renewable contracts. Short-term contracts have been used to give the senior management team maximum flexibility, and to ensure that each member of staff is retained only where there is a clear business case for his or her services.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether appropriately qualified residents of the Turks and Caicos Islands were able to apply to join the special prosecution team investigating alleged corruption.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT) consists of a mix of investigators, financial investigators and lawyers. The investigation is exceptionally complex and involves work with law enforcement authorities in several other countries. It requires investigators who are highly experienced in this field. The investigation is also highly confidential.
	The special prosecutor has explained in public that it was not possible to recruit local attorneys or to contract with them to provide legal advice. This was not because the local Bar lacked expertise. Rather, it was a consequence of the fact that the legal profession is relatively small, that the investigation is wide ranging and that it was preceded by a commission of inquiry. Most of the law firms on the islands would be unable to provide legal services to the SIPT because they are already advising persons or entities that are the subject of investigation. Legal advice on local law and procedure is provided by the Turks and Caicos Islands Attorney-General's chambers.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the monthly cost of the Turks and Caicos Islands special prosecution team investigating alleged corruption; what has been the total cost since the start of the investigation; whether they have made an estimate of the likely total cost of the investigation and possible resulting prosecutions; and whether this cost falls upon HM Treasury or the Turks and Caicos Islands' budget.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office covered the initial costs of the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT). These were approximately £660,000 in the financial year ending March 2010.
	The estimated budget for the SIPT for financial year ending March 2011 is £5,208,750. The budget includes all costs associated with running the investigation, including accommodation and IT. The budget is funded by the Turks and Caicos Islands Government.
	As charges are brought and cases advance towards trial, the size and therefore the costs of the investigation team will decrease substantially. Furthermore the eventual recovery of the proceeds of crime is a central aim of the investigation.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether elections will take place in the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2011; and whether they have any proposals to bar those under investigation over alleged corruption from standing in these elections.

Lord Howell of Guildford: I refer the noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 9 December about the timing of elections in the Turks and Caicos Islands (Official Report, col. WS56-58).
	The issue of who will be eligible to stand for elected office is being considered as part of the constitutional and electoral reform exercise.

Uganda

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the attacks on journalists and media employees in Uganda during the first ten months of 2010, including cases of torture, arrest, detention and judicial sanctions; and what discussion they have had with the Government of Uganda about the provision of free speech in Uganda.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We have concerns about administrative and legal curbs on freedom of expression in Uganda, in particular the draft Press and Journalism Bill, and the reports of difficulties faced by journalists. However, we were encouraged by the recent ruling of Uganda's Constitutional Court that abolished the crime of sedition and quashed 14 outstanding charges of sedition brought against journalists and opposition politicians.
	Our high commission in Kampala regularly discusses issues relating to freedom of expression with the Government of Uganda and has raised the draft Press Bill with the Ugandan Minister for Information. We will continue to urge Uganda to ensure that any new legislation strikes an appropriate and legitimate balance between regulation and protection of the right to freedom of expression.

UK Investment: Foundation X

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government when ministers in HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office last met or corresponded with representatives or principals from the organisation known as Foundation X.

Lord Sassoon: HM Treasury officials were last in contact with Lord James of Blackheath on 13 December 2010, to reiterate that Lord Sassoon does not intend to pursue the issues he raised regarding the purported organisation known as Foundation X. Treasury Ministers have had no meetings with anyone claiming to represent an organisation known as Foundation X.
	Cabinet Office officials last corresponded with those associated with an organisation referred to by Lord James as Foundation X on 19 November 2010, to acknowledge receipt of an email. The Leader of the House of Lords met with Lord James and an associate of Lord James on 26 July 2010.

Universities: Admissions

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the passing of the Higher Education Act 2004, how many universities were instructed by the Office for Fair Access to change their admission policies to ensure fair access.

Lord Henley: The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) does not have powers to instruct universities to change their admissions policies. Universities are responsible for their own admissions policies and decisions.
	OFFA's role is to safeguard access to higher education for under-represented groups. OFFA does this by approving and monitoring access agreements-agreements in which universities set out their tuition fee limit, their plans for targeted bursaries and other financial support and, in many cases, additional outreach work for under-represented groups.
	Evidence to date strongly indicates that the introduction of higher fees in 2006-07 has not had a detrimental effect on participation of disadvantaged students from low-income backgrounds and other under-represented groups. On 7 December, the Government published early draft guidance setting out the coalition's expectations of how the Director of Fair Access might approach the approval and monitoring of new access agreements from 2012.
	All universities are required, as a condition of receiving a widening participation allocation, by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, to produce Widening Participation Strategic Assessments (WPSAs). A WPSA must include a statement on admissions policy showing how the university will ensure transparency, consistency and fairness.

Universities: Admissions

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage top universities to enrol more state school students.

Lord Henley: The Government are establishing a new framework, with increased responsibility on universities to widen participation and with greater government investment in improving attainment and access for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Universities wanting to charge more than a £6,000 annual graduate contribution will have to demonstrate what more they will do to attract more students from disadvantaged backgrounds through outreach activities, targeted scholarships and other financial support. This will include a requirement to participate in the new £150 million national scholarship programme. This work will be further supported by the £2.5 billion pupil premium to turn their school-based achievement into success at university.
	Participation in higher education has improved in recent years-in 2008-09, 88 per cent of young entrants to full-time degree courses in England were from state schools. However, there is more to do. Access will remain a focus for all institutions, which will continue to submit a widening participation strategic assessment to the Higher Education Funding Council for England. Universities charging above the £6,000 threshold will draw up a new access agreement with the director of fair access, who will expect most from those whose records show they have furthest to go in securing a diverse student body. On 6 December, we published draft guidance to the director of fair access setting out our expectations on how he might approach the approval and monitoring of universities' new access agreements.

Universities: Grants

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total grant for teaching awarded to English universities by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in each of the years 2005-06 to 2009-10.

Lord Henley: The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) awarded the following amounts in recurrent grant for teaching, including widening participation for each of the financial years requested:
	
		
			 2005-06 £4,259,260,000 
			 2006-07 £4,171,281,000 
			 2007-08 £4,355,355,000 
			 2008-09 £4,499,182,000 
			 2009-10 £4,599,425,000 
		
	
	Source: HEFCE Annual Report and Accounts.

Universities: Intellectual Property

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Wilcox on 23 November (WA 323), what discussions they have had with the University of Manchester concerning the application of Intellectual Property Office guidance to the research which led to the development of the new material graphene.

Baroness Wilcox: There have been no discussions with the University of Manchester on the application of Intellectual Property Office guidance to the research that led to the development of the new material graphene. Manchester University has a professional team with a track record in commercialising the results of research.

Visas

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government when Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly last entered the United Kingdom; on which country's passport; what was the duration of any visa required; and when and where it was issued.

Baroness Neville-Jones: UK government agencies and Swedish authorities are co-operating in ongoing investigations and it would be inappropriate to comment on the details of Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly's activities.

Women: Peace and Security

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Shutt of Greetland on 8 December (WA 70), what discussions the Northern Ireland Office had with other government departments during the redrafting process of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, published on 25 November; and what plans exist to integrate provisions relating to the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in Northern Ireland into the National Action Plan.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: Discussions during the redrafting of the national action plan took place between NIO officials and officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Government Equalities Office and the Northern Ireland Executive. There are no plans to integrate provisions relating to the implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Northern Ireland into the national action plan.

Young Offender Institutions: Social Workers

The Earl of Listowel: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the social work posts in young offender institutions are vacant; and what steps they are taking to reduce the levels of vacant posts.

Lord McNally: There is a statutory duty on local authorities to provide social work services to children in need. It is a matter for local authorities how they choose to fulfil these duties. In 2005, a number of dedicated social worker posts in young offender institutions (YOIs) were established by a centrally funded pilot scheme; since this funding came to an end in 2009, the provision of social work services has been determined on a case by case basis at a local level.